Plow attachment



(No Model.)`

S. H. RITTER. PLW ATTACHMENT.

` Patented June 28,1898.

SOLOMON I-I. RITTER, OF POTTSGROVE, PENNSYLVANIA.

PLOW ATTACHM ENT.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 606,244, dated June 28, 1898. Application filed November 5, 1897. Serial No. 657,529. (No model.)

To @ZZ whom, it may concern:

Be it known that I, SOLOMON H. RITTER, a citizen of the United States, residing at Pottsgrove, in the county of Northumberland and State of Pennsylvania, have invented a new and useful Plow Attachment, of which the following is a specification My invention relates to improvements in attachments for plows by which the width of the furrow may be regulated by a variation in the position of the beam; and the object that I have in view is to provide a simple means for adjusting the beam, which adjusting means is capable of ready applicationvto the plow and is adapted tO be operated by the driver without leaving his position at the handles of the implement.

fith these ends in View myinvention consists in the combination, with a stock and handles of a plow, Of a pivoted beam, a fixed bracket arranged between and attached to the handles and provided at one end with a loop and in its straight length with a longitudinal slot, aworm or screw shaft journaled in the bracket, a traveling nut attached to the plow-beam and iitted to engage with the worm or screw shaft, a lever for imparting motion to the shaft, and means for locking the lever, shaft, and plow-beam in their adjusted positions, substantially as will be hereinafter fully described and claimed.

The invention further consists in the construction and arrangement of parts, which will be more fully pointed out, and then defined in the claims.

To enable others to understand the invention, I have illustrated the same in the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this specification, in which- Figure l is a perspective view of a plow equipped with my regulating attachment. Fig. 2 is a plan View. Fig. 3 is a detail sec-A tional view taken through a part of the plowbeam, the traveling nut, and the Worm or screw shaft on the plane indicated by the dotted line 3 3 of Fig. 2. Fig. 4 is a rear elevation of my attachment, showing a part of the plow-handles and the plow-beam.

Like numerals of reference denote corre spondin g parts in all the figures of thedrawings.

` According to mypresent invention it is necessary to mount the plow-beam l pivotally upon the stock or foot 2 of an ordinary plow. The pivotal attachment of the beam to the stock or foot maybe effected in any suitable way by a skilled mechanic; but in the drawings I have Ashown the pivotal bolt 3 as one lmeans for adjustably connecting the plowbeam to the foot or standard This pivotal connection of the plow-beam to the standard is effected at a point intermediate lof the length of the plow-beam, thus leaving the rear end of said beam free for the application of the device for adjusting the beam to vary the position thereof to regulate the width of the furrow.

In all essential particulars except the pivotal attachment of the beam to the foot or standard 2 the plow is similar `to Ordinary plows in use, and my attachment is adapted for use in connection with such ordinary plows by a few changes in the parts thereof.

Betweenthe handles 4 of the plow is arranged a bracket 5, which is constructed in a peculiar manner to serve as a guide for a traveling nut, to provide forits attachment to the plow-handles, and to receive the adjusting and fastening devices for the worm or screw shaft, all forming a part of the attachment. This bracket consists of a straightlength or shank 6 and a loop-shapedV end 7, which are made in a single piece of metal, and at one end the straight shank 6 of the bracket is formed with a threaded tenen 8, adapted to be inserted in an aperture in one of the plow-handles. TheA angular or looped end of the bracket is adapted to be applied against one of the plow-handles, while the threaded tenon atthe other end of the bracket lits in the other handle. The bracket is secured in position by bolting the angular or looped end 7 toone 'handle and by applying a nut to the threaded tenon 8 or by heading this tenon against the handle. The bracket is thus adapted to be secured firmlyin place between the handles for its straight shank 6 to occupy a horizontal position below the rear end of the plow-beam, while the angular or looped end 7 of the bracket drops downwardly or below the level of the straightshank of thebeam. The straight shank 6 of the bracket is pro IOO vided with a longitudinal slot 9, which forms a guide for the traveling nut 10. This traveling nut is arranged to lie below the straight shank of the bracket to be guided therein, and said nut has a vertical stem 11, which passes through the slotted shank of the bracket, the upper end of said stem fitting in an aperture l2 in the rear free end of the pivoted beam. The upper extremity of the stem of said traveling nut is threaded to receive a nut 13, which bears on the washer or wearplate 14, which rests on the beam, and thus the stem of the traveling nut is attached to the beam to insure movement of the beam when the nut is actuated by the worm-or screw shaft 15. This worm or screw shaft occupies a horizontal position below the straight shank of the bracket 5, and one end of the shaft has a journal 16, which passes through an opening or bearing 17, formed in one of the arms of the angular or loop-shaped end 7 of the bracket, while the other end of the Worm or screw shaft is provided with a jonrnal 19, that iits in a bearing-plate 1S, which is confined between one of the plow-handles and the tenon 8 of the bracket 5.

The journal 1G of the worm or screw shaft 15 projects into the angular or looped part of the bracket 5, and on this journal is mounted a ratchet-disk 20 and an operating-lever 2l. The ratchet-disk 20 is secured rigidly to the journal 16 of the screw-shaft in any suitable manner-as, for instance, by a key or a setscrew-so that the ratchet-disk is adapted to turn with the screw-shaft; but the lever 21 is Vfitted loosely on said journal of the screwshaft in order that the lever may be operated back and forth as required to impart rotary motion to the ratchet and the screw-shaft for the purpose of adjusting the traveling nut and the plow-beam.

The free protruding end of the journal 16 is threaded to receive a nut 22, between which and the side of the lever 2l is interposed a washer 24, said nut and washer serving to hold the lever against displacement on the journal of the worm or screw shaft and in proper operative relation to the ratchet-wheel. This lever is provided with a loose doubleacting pawl 25, which is hung or pivot-ed on the lever, as at 26,- in a position for one or the other of the prongs of the pawl to engage with the ratchet-teeth.

Rigidy mounted on the straight horizontal shank of the bracket adjacent to the lever is a perforated or notched segment 27, and on the lever 21 above the pawl 25 is pivoted a thumb latch -lever 28, which is normally pressed by a spring 29 to have its nose engage with one of the perforations or notches in the holdin g-segment 27, whereby the lever, the ratchet, the worm or screw shaft, and the nut may be held fixed in their adjusted positions.

The lever of the adjusting attachment may be operated to turn the notched or ratchet disk in either direction for the purpose of turning the worm or screw shaft according as it is desired to adjust the plow-beam one Way or the other to widen or narrow the furrow.

The attachment is simple in construction, cheap of manufacture, easily applied to a plow, and readily adj Listed according to the requirements of the service.

It is evident that changes in the form and proportion of parts and in the details of construction of my invention may be made by a skilled mechanic Without departing from the spirit of the invention.

Having thus fully described the invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. The combination with plow-handles, and a pivoted beam, of a bracket iixcd to said handles and having a slotted shank and a looped end, a worm or screw shaft journaled in the bracket and having one end extended into the looped end thereof, a traveling nut having a stem which passes through the slotted bracket and is attached to the beam, a notched disk or ratchet attached to the protruding end of the worm shaft, an adjusting -lever tted loosely on the end of the worm-shaft, a pawl on said lever, a holding-segment carried by the bracket, and a thumb latch-lever, substantially as and for the purposes described.

2. The combination with a pivoted plowbeam, of a fixed bracket, a traveling nut slidably fitted to the bracket and attached to the plow-beam for moving the latter on its pivot, a worm-shaft passing through the nut and journaled in the bracket, and means for rotating and locking the screw-shaft, substantially as described.

3. The combination with a plow-beam pivoted to turn on a vertical axis, of a fixed bracket on a plow-frame, a traveling nut slidably fitted to the bracket and connected lOO IIO 

